Final Call Read Online Free

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the smile on their faces.
    “Stanley, that’s not nice,” she chided, dropping her
handkerchief in her lap and turning on him. “A woman has been murdered.”
                Stanley
snorted. “ Tweren’t twenty minutes ago you was telling
me how she was making everyone’s life a living hell. Now I don’t think anyone
should die an awful death like that, but sometimes folks reap what they sow.”
                Rosie
shook her head and sniffed. “Stanley, sometimes I don’t know about you.”
                Stanley
looked at Bradley. “I guess she’ll be able to answer your questions now that
she’s not all slobbery and emotional.”
                Bradley
nodded, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning. He pulled out a
notepad. “Rosie, can I ask you some questions?”
    She glared at Stanley, then turned and smiled at Bradley. “Yes, certainly. How can I help you?”
    “Were you planning on meeting Faye here tonight?” he asked.
    She nodded. “Faye was always here, every night,” she said.
“Even if she wasn’t supposed to rehearse, she came to observe the other
actors.”
    “Was she the director?”
    She shook her head. “No, she...” she paused, “she was trying
to be helpful. She just wanted to get the best out of each of us.”
    Bradley looked up from his notepad and stared directly into
Rosie’s eyes. He could tell that she was trying to make things seem better than
they were. “You do realize that when you lie to be nice, it’s still a lie. And
when you lie during a murder investigation, you make it even more difficult for
us to find out what happened.”
    She sighed. “The truth? The whole truth?”
    He nodded.
    Rosie closed her eyes, pressed her lips together and nodded.
She took a deep breath, opened her eyes and blurted out, “Faye was a mean,
egotistical, and vain bitch; there were no two ways about it.”
    “Well, that was brutally honest,” Stanley muttered.
    “Okay,” Bradley said slowly. “Why don’t you tell me why you
formed those opinions?”
    “She was always criticizing everyone,” Rosie blurted. “No
one was good enough. No one had her level of talent. No one had her expertise.
No one was worthy to share the stage with her.”
    “Was she right?”
    “I don’t know,” she shrugged. “She was very good at being an
actress; she was just terrible at being a human being.”
    He tapped the edge of his pencil against the pad. “Other
than being a bad human being, do you know of any reason someone would want to
kill her?”
    “She was rich,” Stanley interjected. “Someone’s bound to
inherit when she dies.”
    Bradley turned his attention to Stanley. “Do you know of a
relative, or anyone who would gain by her death?”
    Stanley shook his head. “ Naw ,
don’t have a clue. Just saying it would make sense.”
    “Rosie, can you give me a list of all the people who are
part of the performance?” Bradley asked.
    “Everyone? Including the stage crew?”
    “Anyone who would have been here at the theater with Faye,”
he said.
    When she reached for her purse, he saw her hands tremble. Well, of course, idiot , he thought. She’s just seen a murdered woman up close
and personal. Of course she would be shaken.
    “Stanley, take Rosie home. She can put the list together
there and she will probably think more clearly once she’s away from here,” he
said.
    “Best idea I’ve heard all night,” Stanley said. “Come on,
Rosie, I’ll take you home. But don’t think I’m going to fuss over you or
nothing. I’ll make you some tea, maybe, but don’t be expecting too much.”
    “Do you want me to call Mary and have her meet you at your house?” Bradley asked. “She’ll want to know about this.”
    “Thank you, Bradley, that would be lovely,” Rosie agreed, as
she rose and allowed Stanley to help her with her coat. “I think Mary could be
helpful, she’s more experienced with these kinds of